The present invention relates to a far-side airbag apparatus that, when an impact is applied to a side wall of a vehicle from the side, deploys and inflates an airbag forward and upward between two adjacent vehicle seats to protect an occupant seated in the seat farther from the side wall to which the impact has been applied. The present invention also relates to a method for folding the airbag of the far-side airbag apparatus.
Some vehicles that have two vehicle seats arranged in the vehicle width direction are equipped with far-side airbag apparatuses. A far-side airbag apparatus includes an airbag and a gas generator arranged in the airbag. The airbag and the gas generator are accommodated in one of the two vehicle seat, specifically, in a side portion that faces the adjacent vehicle seat. When spread to be flat without being filled with inflation gas, the airbag is in an uninflated-and-spread form of large dimensions, which is not suitable for storage. Thus, the airbag is folded typically by a method such as the roll-folding or the accordion-folding into a storage form, which is smaller in dimensions than the uninflated-and-spread form. The airbag in the storage form is then accommodated in the vehicle seat (for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-195355).
In a vehicle equipped with a far-side airbag apparatus, when an impact is applied from the side to a side wall such as a side door, the gas generator discharges inflation gas. The inflation gas deploys and inflates the airbag forward and upward between two adjacent vehicle seats to a position above the headrests of the vehicle seats. If an occupant is sitting in the vehicle seat on the far side from the side wall to which the impact has been applied, the upper body of that occupant acts to lean toward the side wall due to inertia. Then, the airbag receives the upper body to protect it from the impact.
It is supposed that, of the two vehicle seats, the one that incorporates the airbag and the gas generator is referred to as a first vehicle seat, and the other is referred to as a second vehicle seat. As the deployment of the airbag of the conventional far-side airbag apparatus by the inflation gas progresses, the airbag is deployed and inflated forward and upward either toward the occupant seated in the first vehicle seat or toward the occupant seated in the second vehicle seat. Thus, during the deployment, the airbag may catch on the arm or the shoulder of one of the two occupants seated in the first and second vehicle seats, which may hinder the subsequent deployment and inflation of the airbag.